JPH0684895B2 - Instrument pointer device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an instrument pointer device having a self-luminous pointer capable of emitting light at a high altitude.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An instrument of a vehicle such as an automobile is provided with a lighting means in order to ensure visibility in a dark place such as at night. In the case of an instrument that has a pointer and a dial, the illumination is provided with an illumination lamp on the back of the instrument panel, etc. to illuminate the surface of the instrument panel through a slit, or a transparent portion is provided on the dial and the pointer is transparent. The prism is used to guide the light of the illuminating lamp to a translucent pointer.

[0003]

However, in the conventional instrument, since the pointer itself is not a luminous body, the altitude of the pointer is limited, and changes in the surrounding environment such as twilight, backlight, and high speed running. In some cases, the visibility of the pointer may be insufficient. Therefore, it is conceivable to use a self-luminous pointer as the pointer, but this leads to complication of the structure of the current-carrying means and the like, and particularly the pointer itself is stably held and fixed on the meter shaft, and the structure that can be easily attached and detached is complicated. At the same time, there was a problem that the appearance was not smart.

An object of the present invention is to provide excellent visibility under all conditions of use, a simple structure for attaching and detaching the pointer, which allows the pointer to be stably held and fixed, and which does not cover the appearance. The equipment is provided.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pointer driving means for rotating a meter shaft in response to an input signal, an elongated hollow rod-shaped valve provided with an internal electrode, and A self-luminous indicator having a discharge tube provided with an external electrode along the axial direction on the outer surface of the bulb, a leg portion attached to the meter shaft and orthogonal to the leg portion,
A pointer boss that has a holding portion that holds the discharge tube, and a pointer fixing means that includes a cover that covers a part of the discharge tube held by the pointer boss, and that fixes the discharge tube across the meter axis. A configuration is adopted in which the power supply terminal of the discharge tube is composed of an energizing means attached to the fixing means.

[0006]

[Operations and effects of the invention] (a) Since the pointer itself is a luminous body, sufficient luminous intensity can be obtained, and the pointer can be easily viewed under any usage condition of the surrounding environment such as twilight, backlight, high speed traveling. Excel.

(A) Since the pointer is constituted by a discharge tube in which an internal electrode is provided on a bulb having an elongated hollow rod shape and an external electrode is provided on the outer surface of the bulb along the axial direction, the pointer is energized. Can be performed by a power supply terminal with a simple structure mounted on the pointer fixing means.

Further, since the structure for mounting the self-luminous pointer effectively uses the pointer boss and the cover, there is no significant difference from the conventional non-self-luminous pointer, easy attachment / detachment and mountability on various instruments. Excellent and does not impair the appearance.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An instrument pointer device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 14 show an automobile speedometer 300 equipped with a pointer device 100 for an instrument according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the speedometer 300 has the pointer device 100 mounted in the meter housing 200.

The meter housing 200 has a meter case 201 which is a base body, and a dial 202 having a letter and a scale attached to the front surface of the meter case 201. Dial 20
A frame-shaped meter plate 203 is arranged on the front surface of 2, and a transparent meter glass 204 is fixed to the front surface so as to cover the dial 202. Further meter case 20
On the back of 1, the meter sub-plate 20 that also serves as a wiring board
5 is attached.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pointer device 100 is disposed inside the meter case 201 behind the dial plate 202, and has pointer driving means 1 for rotating the meter shaft 11 according to an input signal. It has a discharge tube 2 which is a self-luminous pointer, and a pointer fixing means 3 which fixes the rear end of the discharge tube 2 so as to intersect the meter shaft 11. In this pointer fixing means 3,
Power supply terminals 5 and 6 of the energizing means 4 for energizing the discharge tube 2.
Is installed.

The pointer driving means 1 is a known electric type,
When an input signal that changes according to the vehicle speed is input to a built-in coil (not shown), torque is applied to the meter shaft 11. The meter shaft 11 is stopped at the equilibrium point between this torque and the spring force of the pair of hair springs 12 and 13 (shown in FIG. 1) attached to the meter shaft 11 so as to face each other.
As a result, the discharge tube 2 is rotated by the meter shaft 11 along the dial plate 202, and the speed corresponding to the vehicle speed and the gasoline loading amount are displayed.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the discharge tube 2 includes an elongated hollow rod-shaped bulb 21 and the bulb 21.
An inner electrode 22 provided at an inner end portion 213 (a rear end on the rotation center side) and an outer electrode 23 attached to the outer surface of the bulb 21 in a strip shape in the longitudinal direction are provided on the inner surface of the bulb 21. Is coated with a fluorescent coating 24.

The bulb 21 has a hemispherical shell-shaped tip portion 211,
The intermediate portion 212 has a cylindrical shape, and the inside of which is hollow is filled with an inert gas. End 213 of valve 21
Is solid and includes a narrow portion 25 forming a constricted portion and a pair of power receiving portions 26 having a rectangular cross section. This end 21
A bare lead wire 221 that is connected to the internal electrode 22 is embedded in the center of 3, and the end portion of the bare lead wire 221 is
It is bent and pressed against the surface of the power receiving unit 26. A conductive layer 261 made of silver paste is applied to the surface of the power receiving unit 26 to measure electrical continuity with the bare lead wire 221.
A strip-shaped conductive layer 231 made of silver paste is applied to the tip end side of the narrow portion 25 of the bulb 21 in the circumferential direction to form a power receiving portion 27 of the external electrode 23.

The outer surface of the bulb 21 is covered with a light shielding film 28. A slit 29 having a width of 0.5 mm and a total length of 55 mm is opened in the light-shielding film 28 in the axial direction of the bulb 21, and this portion serves as a light-transmitting surface through which light can pass. Further, the rear end of the slit 29 is provided 2 mm away from the internal electrode 22 on the front end side.

The external electrode 23 is formed by applying a paste made of a conductive material such as carbon phenol or silver paste to the outer surface of the bulb in a belt shape in the axial direction. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the width of the external electrode 23 is set larger as the distance from the power receiving unit 27 increases. As a result, the electrons emitted from the internal electrode 22 toward the external electrode 23 are made uniform over the entire external electrode 23, and the discharge tube 2 emits light with a uniform luminous intensity in the longitudinal direction.

The discharge tube 2 has a weight of 0.8 g and an outer diameter of 2.4 m.
m is an elongated hollow rod shape, and 50Toor of a mixed gas of xenon and neon is enclosed inside. Discharge tube 2
When high-frequency power is supplied from the energizing means 4 described later, glow discharge is generated between the inner electrode 22 and the outer electrode 23, and the fluorescent coating 24 produces a high-luminance visible light of 5000 cd / m ² . The fixing means 3 has a pointer boss 7 and a pointer boss cover 8, both of which are integrally molded of polyacetal resin.

The pointer boss 7 is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a cylindrical leg portion 71 externally fitted to the meter shaft 11.
And a bulb holding portion 72 made of an elastic member, which is provided orthogonal to the leg portion 71, the rear end of the discharge tube is fitted thereinto.
On the outer peripheral surface of the leg portion 71, a flat surface 711 is placed in the longitudinal direction in a backward direction.
712 is provided and serves as a contact surface for the power supply terminals 5 and 6.

The valve holding portion 72 is, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 11 (respectively, AA, BB, CC, DD, and EE sectional views of FIG. 1), as shown in FIG. It has an open annular cross-sectional shape that is slightly larger than a semi-circle and is open (upper side in FIG. 4), and has longitudinal ridges 7 on both edges and the middle on the inner peripheral surface.
21, 722 and 723 are provided. Each ridge 72
The tips of 1, 722 and 723 are arranged at intervals of approximately 120 degrees, and are located on a circumference having a diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the discharge tube 2.

Protrusions 73 and 74 are formed in the longitudinal direction on both outer sides 721 of the valve holding portion 72 and serve as locking portions for the pointer boss cover 8. Valve holding part 72
A rectangular groove 7 for fixing the power supply terminals 5 and 6 is provided on the lower surface of the
5, 76 are provided in the longitudinal direction. A support plate 78 having a U-shaped cutout 77 is provided at the rear end of the valve holding portion 72 and is connected to the groove at the bottom of the valve holding portion 72.

The rear portion of the discharge tube 2 has the ridges 721,
It is fitted between 722 and 723 and is fixed by the elasticity of the valve holder 72. At this time, since the support plate 78 is connected only to the bottom portion of the valve holding portion 72 and separated from the side portion, the valve holding portion 72 is elastically deformed smoothly. The narrow portion 25 of the discharge tube 2 has a cutout 77.
It is inserted into, and is axially positioned and fixed.

The pointer boss cover 8 is in the shape of a sheath having a flat front surface 81 and cylindrical surfaces on both sides 82 and 83. The ceiling of the rear portion 84 of the cover 8 is high, and the front surface 81 is formed with a slit 85 from the tip. A longitudinal ridge 86 is formed at the center of the inner surface of the cover 8 and is formed on both sides 82,
At the rear end of 83, claws 87 and 88 that engage with the protrusions 73 and 74 of the valve holding portion 72 are projected. Further, on the back surface of the rear portion 84, a rib 80 with a groove 89 into which the screw 32 for balance adjustment is screwed is formed. Cover 8
The claws 87 and 88 are engaged with the ridges 73 and 74 of the valve holding portion 72 and are attached to the pointer boss 7.

The energizing means 4 is provided with the power supply terminals 5 and 6 and the inner ends 411 and 421 at the tips 51 and 61 of the power supply terminals 5 and 6, respectively.
Hair springs 41 and 42 to which is fixed. The hair springs 41 and 42 are arranged in opposite directions to each other, and are connected to fixing fittings (terminals) 43 and 44 for fixing the outer ends 412 and 422 of them. The fixtures 43 and 44 are fixed 90 degrees apart on the fixer plate 14 formed of a substantially C-shaped plate of an electric insulator, and the fixer plate 14 is fixed to the pointer driving means 1 by screws 15 and 16.
Sticked on.

The fixing fittings 43, 44 are lead wires 45, 4
It is connected to a high frequency power source (not shown) via 6. The high-frequency power supply is shielded and 1 kHz or more and 500 kHz
Generates high frequencies in the frequency range of less than, the fluctuation of the frequency is small, and the occupied band is narrow.

This energizing means 4 is 1 kHz or more and 500 k
I am using a high frequency with a frequency below Hz, which
This is for enabling glow discharge through the tube surface of the bulb 21. Here, the numerical value is limited because if it is less than 1 kHz, the tip of the discharge tube 2 cannot sufficiently emit light, and if it is 500 kHz or more, it interferes with the medium-wave radio mounted on the vehicle or the like. . Further, the reason why the frequency fluctuation is small and the occupied band shape is narrow is that the VLF (ultra long wave) band, the LF (long wave) band, and the MF (medium wave) band are scattered in the range of the above frequency band. This is to prevent reception interference such as radio communication frequencies of submarines and fishing boats, position measurement frequencies of Omega, Loran, Decca, and rescue and rescue calling frequencies. Furthermore, the reason why the high-frequency power generator is shielded is that the energy radiated to the outside of the device is set to 15 μV or less at 100 m of Article 6 of the Radio Law, and the radio mounted on the vehicle is thereby reduced. It is designed not to cause any damage to electrical components such as equipment and those nearby.

In the power supply terminals 5 and 6, the intermediate portions 52 and 62 are flat surfaces 711 and 7 of the outer peripheral surface of the leg portion 71 of the pointer boss 7.
12 is provided so as to abut on 12 and to extend in the radial direction from the rear end thereof, and the tip end thereof is fixed to the inner ends 411, 412 of the hair springs 41, 42. Intermediate portion 52, 62
From the front end of the arm, arm plates 54 and 64 are provided which are provided with returns 53 and 63 projecting from both sides and extend in the radial direction.
The arm plates 54 and 64 are fitted in rectangular grooves 75 and 76 provided in the lower portion of the valve holding portion 72. The arm plate 5
Clamping portions 55 and 65 that hold the power receiving portions 26 and 27 of the discharge tube 2 are provided at the tips of the reference numerals 4 and 64. An insulator 9 that doubles as a holder for the power supply terminals 5 and 6 is provided between the hair springs 41 and 42.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 14, the insulator 9 is integrally molded of polyacetal resin, and has a semicylindrical portion 91 which is somewhat larger than a semicircle, and extends from one edge thereof toward the other edge. The holding portion 93 includes a flat plate portion 92, and the annular plate portion 95 integrally formed from the rear end (lower end in FIG. 4) of the holding portion 93 via the connecting portion 94. An axial protrusion 96 is provided on the inner wall of the semi-cylindrical portion 91. The insulator 9 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 11, the flat plate portion 92 holds the intermediate portion 52 of the power supply terminal 5 between the flat portion 721 and the flat surface 711 of the outer peripheral surface of the leg portion 71 of the pointer boss 7, and the ridge 96 is in pressure contact with the flat surface 712. As a result, the power supply terminal 5 is held by the leg portion 71 of the pointer boss 7 at the intermediate portion 52. Ring plate part 95
Are arranged in the middle of the hair springs 41 and 42 to prevent the hair springs 41 and 42 from coming into contact with each other due to vibration or the like.

To fix the insulator 9 to the leg portion 71 of the pointer boss 7, as shown in FIG. 13, a claw 97 formed on the inner surface of the leg portion 71 is provided with a projection 713 formed on the outer surface of the pointer boss as indicated by the solid line in the figure. This is done by the arm 98 located at the position overcoming while returning to the original position while deforming to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in the figure. The hair springs 41 and 42 are
The torque is set to 1/3 of the torque of the hair springs 12 and 13 (downward in FIG. 1) for rotating the meter shaft.

A rectangular opening 209 is formed in the central portion of the dial plate 202 so that the discharge tube 2 can be attached when the discharge tube 2 is arranged near the dial plate 202. The two pairs of plate decorations 206 have a semicircular hole 210 slightly larger than the turning diameter of the leg portion 71 in order to close the lower portion of the leg portion 71 below the dial 202 (the lower portion in FIG. 1). It is provided so as to be sandwiched from both sides of the leg portion 71, and is screwed to the dial plate 202 with mounting screws 207 and 208.

The pointer device 100 having the above structure is shown in FIG.
Assembled in the following order as shown in. (A) The power feeding terminal 6 is fitted in the fixing grooves 75, 76 of the pointer boss 7 from the left side in the drawing, and (a) the power feeding terminal 5 is fitted from the right direction. (C) The leg 71 is passed through the insulator 9. (D) The end of the hair spring 41 for the pointer on the center side is fixed to the tip 51 of the power supply terminal 5. (E) The discharge tube 2 is fitted into the bulb holding portion 72. (F) Insert the cover 8 into the pointer boss 7. (G) Screw the screw 32 into the groove 89. (H) The insulator 9 is loosely inserted into the end of the meter shaft 11.
(F) The outer end of the hair spring 41 is fixed to the fixing bracket 43. (U) The outer end of the hair spring 42 is fixed to the fixing member 44. (Sa) Plate decoration 2
06 is screwed onto the dial 202 by (s) mounting screw 207 and (s) mounting screw 208.

A pointer device 100 for an instrument according to this embodiment.
Has the following actions and effects. a. Since the discharge tube 2 is used as the pointer of the meter, the pointer has high brightness. For this reason, the visibility of the pointer is excellent even when there are changes in the surrounding environment such as twilight, backlight, and high speed running.

B. The discharge tube 2 is fixed axially by the bulb 2
Since the narrow portion 25 provided at the end 213 of No. 1 is fitted into the U-shaped notch 77 of the support plate 78 provided at the pointer boss 7, centrifugal force is generated due to the rotation of the pointer. Even so, the pointer is mechanically firmly fixed so that it does not fall off, and the positioning at the time of mounting can be performed accurately.

C. The internal electrode 22 only needs one end of the bulb 21. Therefore, the appearance of the tip of the pointer is the same as that of the conventional one. Further, since the discharge tube 2 can be made lighter, it is not necessary to improve the driving torque, so that the discharge tube 2 can be easily mounted on the instrument.

D. Since the light emitting surface shines extremely thinly by the slit 29 to indicate the display scale, the display can be read with high accuracy. e. By changing the width of the slit 29, the width of the light emitting surface can be set as necessary.

F. At the rear end of the slit 29, the internal electrode 22
Since it is provided 2 mm away from the tip to the internal electrode 2
It is possible to avoid the blackening of the tube near the electrode due to the sputtering of No. 2. As a result, it is aesthetically pleasing without replacement for a long period of time, and the entire pointer can be maintained at high illuminance.

G. The electric discharge tube 2 can be attached to the pointer fixing means 3 simply by fitting it into the valve holding portion 72 of the pointer boss 7, so that the pointer can be easily attached at the time of assembly or replaced at the time of replacement.

H. Since the electric current is applied to the discharge tube 2 via the hair springs 41 and 42, the electric connection to the discharge tube 2 can be facilitated and the conventional instrument can also be easily installed.

I. Since the torque of the hair springs 41 and 42 is set to 1/3 of the torque of the hair springs 12 and 13 for rotating the meter shaft, zero adjustment adjustment can be performed by the instrument fixer. As a result, the instrument pointer device of the present invention can be easily mounted on an instrument having a conventional configuration. Moreover, it is easy to adjust the zero point of the pointer.

J. Slit 85 on pointer boss cover 8
Since the is formed, the light emitting surface of the pointer can be lengthened. k. Since the parts to be mounted above the pointer pos 7 are elongated in the longitudinal direction of the pointer and covered by the cover 8, the opening 209 can be a narrow and narrow opening, and the appearance is less different from the conventional one. .

FIG. 15 shows a second embodiment of the discharge tube 2 according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, the light-shielding film 28 encapsulating the outer surface of the bulb 21 is provided with slits 29 having a narrow width at the front and rear ends and a wide width at the middle. Has become. As a result, since the tip is sharp, it is possible to obtain a pointer device for an instrument which is excellent in indicating the graduation of the dial and which is thick in the middle so that the pointer itself is highly visible.

16 and 17 show a third embodiment of the discharge tube 2 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the light-shielding coating 28 that covers the outer surface of the bulb 21 is provided only at the front and rear ends. This makes it possible to obtain a pointer device for an instrument, which is thick overall and has excellent visibility of the pointer itself.

18 and 19 show a second and fourth embodiment of the discharge according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, the light-shielding coating 28 encapsulating the outer surface of the bulb 21 is formed except for the middle portion in the longitudinal direction, which is approximately 180 degrees and is biased toward the back side of the entire circumference. As a result, the pointer can be seen as a thin line from the entire surface. Further, one side of the discharge tube 2 is illuminated by the light emission to become a bright zone 2A, and a pointer device for an instrument having a thin bright zone following the high altitude line is obtained. As a result, the instrument panel is illuminated to the position of the pointer by the rotation of the pointer, the speed can be grasped by the area of the bright part of the instrument panel, and the acceleration can be fully enjoyed by running the band of light.

FIG. 20 shows a second embodiment of the power receiving portion of the discharge tube 2 according to the present invention. The end portion 213 of the valve 21 is a solid protrusion having a small outer diameter. A bare lead wire 221 connected to the internal electrode 22 is embedded in the center of the end portion 213, and the end portion of the bare lead wire 221 is bent and pressed against the inner wall surface of the end portion 213. This end 2
A metal tube terminal (not shown) is externally fitted to 13 to serve as one power receiving portion. The other power receiving unit is the valve 21.
A recess 21A is provided on the outer periphery of the metal plate, and a metal plate 21B is fitted in the recess.

21 and 22 show a third embodiment of the power receiving portion of the discharge tube 2 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the other power receiving portion is constituted by an arc-shaped metal plate 21C fitted onto the outer circumference of the valve 21.

FIG. 23 shows a fourth embodiment of the power receiving portion of the discharge tube 2 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the end portion 213 of the valve 21 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the recesses 214 and 21 are formed on both sides.
5 are formed, and a conductive layer made of silver paste is applied to these recesses. In the bulb 21, as a power receiving portion 27 of the external electrode 23, a conductive layer 231 made of silver paste in a band shape in the circumferential direction.
Has been applied. The bare lead wire 221 is bent and pressed against the surface of the recess 214. This recess 21
A band-shaped conductive layer 231 made of a silver paste is applied in the circumferential direction to the tip side of the electrodes 4, 215 as the power receiving portion 26 of the internal electrode 22.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of a pointer device for an instrument according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an automobile speedometer using the pointer device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the automobile speedometer shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an assembly diagram of a main part of the speedometer shown in FIG.

5 is a front view of a discharge tube used for the pointer of the speedometer shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the discharge tube shown in FIG.

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

8 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD of FIG.

11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line EE of FIG.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of an insulator portion of the pointer device of FIG.

13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line FF of FIG.

14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GG of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a front view of a speedometer showing a second embodiment of the discharge tube used in the pointer device of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing a third embodiment of the discharge tube used in the pointer device of the present invention.

17 is a sectional view of the discharge tube shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the discharge tube used in the pointer device of the present invention.

19 is a front view of an automatic speedometer using the discharge tube shown in FIG.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the power receiving portion of the discharge tube used in the pointer device of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the power receiving portion of the discharge tube used in the pointer device of the present invention.

22 is a cross-sectional view of the discharge tube shown in FIG.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the power receiving portion of the discharge tube used in the pointer device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Instrument pointer device 1 Pointer driving means 2 Discharge tube (self-luminous pointer) 3 Pointer fixing means 4 Energizing means 5,6 Power supply terminal 7 Pointer boss 8 Pointer boss cover 11 Meter shaft 21 Valve 22 Internal electrode 23 External electrode 71 Leg part 72 Valve holding part 213 End part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pointer driving means for rotating a meter shaft in response to an input signal, an internal electrode provided on an elongated hollow rod-shaped valve, and an external electrode provided on an outer surface of the valve along an axial direction. A self-luminous pointer having a discharge tube, a leg boss attached to the meter shaft and a holding portion orthogonal to the leg and holding the discharge tube, and the discharge tube held by the pointer boss. A pointer device for an instrument, which includes a cover that covers a part of the meter, and includes a pointer fixing unit that fixes the discharge tube across the meter axis and a power supply terminal that supplies power to the internal electrode and the external electrode of the discharge tube. 2. The inner electrode has a conductive layer for power reception formed at an end portion of the discharge tube, and the layer is engaged with a power supply terminal for the inner electrode. The indicated pointer device. 3. The external electrode has a conductive layer for power reception, which is formed in an intermediate portion of the discharge tube and covers the cylinder.
The pointer device according to claim 1, wherein the layer engages with a power supply terminal for the external electrode.